Philly area has highest percentage of cat owners in U.S.
And pet owners prefer to give animals human names, many of them the same for cats and dogs
Renowned for the Liberty Bell and cheesesteak, Philadelphia can now add the litter box as an iconic symbol.
Households in the Philadelphia metropolitan area have a higher percentage of cat ownership among the country’s 15 largest metro areas: 568,000, or 23%, according to 2021 U.S. Census figures. Seattle comes in second at 22%. The statistics were first reported by Axios.
In truth, dogs live in a larger chunk of households in the area — 788,000, or 32% — but that ranks eighth in the nation.
While cat and dog people aren’t always in accord, they think remarkably alike when naming their darlings.
Four of the five top Philadelphia area names for male dogs coincide with four of the five top male cat names, according to a nationwide survey released Tuesday by Rover, a pet care company: Charlie, Max, Leo, and Milo. Similarly, four of the top five local female cat and dog names are Luna, Bella, Lucy, and Lily. In terms of U.S. trending names in 2022, it’s “Pfizer” for dogs, “Covid” and “Dr. Fauci” for cats.
Can a particular place seem more cat than dog? There are theories.
» READ MORE: Never mind red or blue states. Do you live in a cat or dog state? Find out.
Cat people are nonconformists, while dog people are rule-followers, according to various studies. Birthplace of a revolution, this area is historically famous for upending the status quo.
Not that they’d boast, but cat lovers have scored higher on intelligence tests than dog people, according to Science.org. They’re also more intellectually curious, Psychology Today tells us.
Beyond that, said Mount Airy animal advocate Aminda Edgar, “Philadelphians tend to be forthright in their opinions, and people see cats as telling you what they think.”
If you ask the animal lovers at Anima Natural Pet Products in Old City where they land on this whole purr-vs.-bark fuss, there’s little equivocation.
“Cats are such a Philly thing,” said owner Kimberly Davis, offering a novel hypothesis:
“Italy has lots of public cats people take care of. They’re an accepted part of cultural life. And Philadelphia, especially South Philly, has lots of Italians. I wonder if Philadelphia loves cats at least in part because of Italian tradition.”
She added that Facebook is crammed with pages profiling strays and cat colonies being looked after by local rescuers.
“There’s something about Philly,” Davis said. “We are so into saving cats.”
With felines, as with Philadelphians, said Annie Duggan, 47, a project manager who lives in Havertown, it all comes down to attitude.
“I don’t like cats,” she said, explaining they trigger allergies. “But I can see that they expect you to take care of them, and they just do what they want.”
“That speaks to something in the character of Philadelphia.”
Besides, dogs love everybody, she added.
Cats and Philadelphians, not so much.